


frenetic

by themoonsaidno



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2020-10-29 01:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20788523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoonsaidno/pseuds/themoonsaidno
Summary: it’s dangerous to go alone, but here i am, following orders the different version of me was given a hundred years ago. | a collection of thoughts told from the point-of-view of link as he journeys in preparation of ganon’s defeat; based on actual gameplay





	1. prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i really enjoyed dramatizing my own gameplay, so i decided make a sort of series out of it! this chapter is a prologue inspired by the first time i woke up the game - i had no clue what i was doing and completely didn’t see the chests of clothes, so i ran around naked and cutting down trees for a bit lol.
> 
> anyways, i can’t wait to continue. thanks for reading~~

day 001

Louder and louder, the sounds of horns rang in my ears, drowning out the soft voice within the golden light with the cries of war. It felt like they had been calling out for a long, long time yet I had only just noticed them. Every time that voice - her voice - made me stop to inspect a pedestal of orange and blue, I felt the adrenaline inside me thaw, impatient and flooding.

I could only register in pieces - I was cold, wet, and naked. The room was dark and the air made no noise. The blue that painted the room offered no warmth or information. I did not recognize the symbols on the ceiling or the layers of thick stonework doors that kept me inside. 

“Link...You are the light - light - that must shine upon Hyrule once again.”

I was frenetic; I wanted out. Behind the biggest entrance, a flash of light crept over a wall of rock. Desperate and frenzied, I dug my fingertips into the sharp stone and hauled myself up with my bare knees. Then, I ambled into the light and was met with a type vastness I couldn’t understand yet.

I’m not proud of those early moments. I remember, alone, I grabbed a nearby ax and rampaged through the woods. I must have looked deranged to the furry creatures that ran and flew away from my general direction. I know I sounded rabid as I screamed.

Eventually, I tired myself out and headed back to the Shrine of Resurrection, where I found chests of old clothes. Eventually, I met the King. Eventually, I went to the Great Plateau Tower. Eventually, I conquered those four shrines and earned my right to leave.

I would like to forget the times when I knew myself even less - when I was forced to rebirth as an animal meant to fend for itself. But then I see the dried blood beneath my fingernails and I want to scream again.


	2. xx1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter (chapter one!) is based off my playthrough from the weekend. this is VERY dramatized and exaggerated, but something about captured memory #5 unsettled me, especially with such a view as the backdrop.

From behind the crag of rock I was scaling, I saw the sunrise today.

The skies in Eldin never go completely dark. I barely registered it was 3am in the midst of my quest to find where exactly that picture in my album was taken. I could see the surreal pink top of the Great Deku Tree in the distance above the black-green of the Great Hyrule Forest and Hyrule Castle to my left, but it wasn’t right. In the desperate flurry that has become my trademark, I paraglided and climbed whatever rock the stuck up, hoping it was the right one.

Hours obviously elapsed during my maddening rush. The only certainty I have about myself is that I’m singleminded., so I didn’t care very much. I just ran. I was halfway up my sixth crag when I was halted by the softest yellow light from behind it. The sky had gone from this electric black with almost green stars to a pale blue - one so faint it looked like pure light. The gentleness of the sky crept out around me and enveloped all that I could see. It was, of course, excruciatingly hot because it’s Eldin, but I felt a chill wash over me at the same pace. It was calm.

That wasn’t the right rock anyway, but I made it to the top to finish seeing the sun arrive. It was too late, though, so I jumped from one to another for maybe an hour more until I saw a formation on a nearby plateau. There was a circle of stones arranged neatly, so I flew to it assuming there’d be a Korok waiting for me. I hadn’t even landed yet when I saw the familiar golden light. I fell painfully, practically crawling to the peak. The view was exactly right.

With most memories, I’m taken aback by how human things feel versus my current reality. I usually feel worse off, but things make more sense and that’s worth the nausea. But this memory made me uncomfortable in a completely different way.

The princess was absolutely, unironically saccharine. Her eyes were alight and her voice wasn’t double-edged for once, but something about her immediately felt off. She looked dreamlike - unreal, transient almost. I tried to enjoy it, but everything felt so uncanny. After a moment, I then saw myself and the rocky hill we were on and realized with a chilling wave of horror in the broad daylight of Eldin that I was bathed in fresh blood.

Otherwise, the me of the past looked unremarkable behind the dripping gore I was covered in - as stone-faced and unflinching as ever. I didn’t seem to care much for the hill below the two of us piled with already steaming corpses of Bokoblins and Moblins. Their mouths hung open, wide and mid-scream, and their weapons lied beside them uselessly in pieces. There were hundreds of them and I killed them all. The princess walked by them nonchalantly, discussing our next plan of attack with the same breeziness one uses to talk about the weather.

I felt like I awoke from a nightmare when I was thrown back into my reality. I could only tell because my skin was crawling. I looked down at the hill and I was unnerved by the clean emptiness. Well, all except for one lone Lizalfos at the base. Aimlessly, I ran down, the Master Sword now equipped for no other purpose than for me to kill it. It barely realized I was there before I started hitting it. I just flung my prized weapon until the enemy erupted into malice. I collected the parts and felt the sickness in my stomach return.

How important was it that I saw that? How could I forget what I do? What I’m capable of? Are the monsters I fight daily not sufficient? 

I’m tempted to throw up thinking about it. Sometimes I feel like more like myself when I experience little things like appreciating a sunrise, but then I remember that is not me. I am knight and I kill in the name of Hyrule. I am charged with the protection of the princess, who waits for me in a castle plagued with rot and evil as I prance around collecting flowers and mushrooms.

I teleported out of Eldin with the intention of never coming back. Out of habit, I traveled all the way to Ta’loh Naeg to visit the Goddess statue at Kakariko. She is my favorite out of all the Goddesses I have visited so far. I think it’s because she radiates an aura of kindness. The others feel cold and defiant and like they expect my deference. A part of me doesn’t like that. But the one in Kakariko, her little checkered apron worn as a scarf tells me she is loved and is as grateful to see me as I am to see her.

I came to exchange the four spirit orbs I had collected, but a part of me felt compelled to pray - the part that wants to be forgiven.


End file.
